§386-21.7 Prescription drugs; pharmaceuticals. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, immediately after a work injury is sustained by an employee and so long as reasonably needed, the employer shall furnish to the employee all prescription drugs as the nature of the injury requires; provided that initial concurrent prescriptions for opioids and benzodiazepines shall meet the requirements of section 386-29. The liability for the prescription drugs shall be subject to the deductible under section 386-100.

(b) Payment for all forms of prescription drugs including repackaged and relabeled drugs shall be one hundred forty per cent of the average wholesale price set by the original manufacturer of the dispensed prescription drug as identified by its National Drug Code and as published in the Red Book: Pharmacy's Fundamental Reference as of the date of dispensing, except where the employer or carrier, or any entity acting on behalf of the employer or carrier, directly contracts with the provider or the provider's assignee for a lower amount.

(c) Payment for compounded prescription drugs shall be the sum of one hundred forty per cent of the average wholesale price by gram weight of each underlying prescription drug contained in the compounded prescription drug. For compounded prescription drugs, the average wholesale price shall be that set by the original manufacturer of the underlying prescription drug as identified by its National Drug Code and as published in the Red Book: Pharmacy's Fundamental Reference as of the date of compounding, except where the employer or carrier, or any entity acting on behalf of the employer or carrier, directly contracts with the provider or provider's assignee for a lower amount.

(d) All pharmaceutical claims submitted for repackaged, relabeled, or compounded prescription drugs shall include the National Drug Code of the original manufacturer. If the original manufacturer of the underlying drug product used in repackaged, relabeled, or compounded prescription drugs is not provided or is unknown, then reimbursement shall be one hundred forty per cent of the average wholesale price for the original manufacturer's National Drug Code number as listed in the Red Book: Pharmacy's Fundamental Reference of the prescription drug that is most closely related to the underlying drug product.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section to the contrary, equivalent generic drug products shall be substituted for brand name pharmaceuticals unless the prescribing physician certifies that no substitution shall be prescribed because the injured employee's condition does not tolerate an equivalent generic drug product.

(f) For purposes of this section, "equivalent generic drug product" has the same meaning as provided in section 328-91. [L 2014, c 231, §2; am L 2018, c 155, §3]